Apprentice Spy

When young actor Thomas Mapperley faces dire punishment for seducing the daughter of an aristocrat he is saved by an unlikely champion, Francis Walsingham, spymaster to Queen Elizabeth.

Mapperley is soon dispatched to the Low Countries where William, Prince of Orange is engaged in a deadly struggle against the powerful forces of the Spanish Crown. If he loses the war, the Low Countries will remain part of the Spanish Empire. If he wins, the Low Countries may become a new nation.

Mapperley finds he is both pawn and player in the turbulent times ahead, captured by the Spaniards, used as an agent by William and finally witnessing the terrible sack of Antwerp, the wealthiest city in Europe. And every moment, his life hangs in the balance.

Perhaps being a spy was a bad move. Perhaps he should have remained an actor.